The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-10-01
WILD MEN OF BOMBAY.
nindoo Tribes which Are I'm "a strangely
Degraded Condition.

The report of the Bombay forest
commission contains some interesting
information about the wild tribes of
the Katkan, the strip of land in Bonn
bay that lies between the western
Ghatz and the Arabian sea. The wild
tribes are great number of persons
of different aboriginal races, who lead
an unsettled life and who subsist for
the greatest part of the year on the
wages they earn as carriers and dis
tributors of forest produce among the
local residents. There are three dis
tinct wild tribes lcft--the KatknriS.
10000 strong; the Thakuras, 10000,
and the Varlis. $1,000 in strength-in-
| dviduals who lead savage life alto
! gether, and exc out precarious living
! by a sporadic hill cultivation. by col
lccting forest produce for barter or
sale at the nearest markets, and also
to certain extent. by killing and eat
ing various sorts of wild aniplals.
They live in miserable novels in or
near the forests.
The Thakuras are an unsettled tribe,
ready to change their hamlet if a child
sickcns or COW dies. They wear
scarcely any clothes, eat the coarsest
food, love Incidence and dissipation,
have no thought for the future, and
spend all they can in drink. Still, as
rule, they are quiet and pcaceablc.
| aud 1.-Two altogcthcr by themselves.
They neither borrow nor steal They
are truthful honest, teachable and
harmless. They are Woodworking, the
women doing quite rs much work as
| the men, and they are much more
thrifty and more sober than either the
| Varlis or Katkaris. Some of their viii
lagos are very orderly and clean, the
people showing much respect To the
head man, who belongs TO their own
caste. Thakur means "a chief and
in days very remote they probably had
position of some standing.
The Katkaris. or makers of kat--that
is, catcchu-are the poorest and least
| hopeful of the three tribes. drunken.
given to thicving, and unwilling To
work. In 1925, according to Bishop
! Hcbcr they were charcoal-burncrs, and
So wild and scared that they would
have no direct dealings with the pco-
pie of the plain. They brought head
! loads of charcoal To particular spots,
whence it was carried away 10y the VIII
layers. who left in its place Gus
tomary payment of rice, clothing and
iron tools. Eleven years later Major
/ Macintosh described them as great
/ thieves, stealing corn from the fields
/ and farm-yards, committing robbcries
| i'm the villages at night. and plumber
/ ing lonely travellers during the day.
/ Their women worked hard, acting rs
/ laborers. and bringing into market the
/ head-loads of wood their husbands had
gathered in the forests. They are
very poor, generally in rags. and often
without any wholesome food. A. soon
as they get together a few pence they
spend it in drink and tobacco. \ small
body of them, however, will not eat
cows meat. and are allowed to draw
water at the village wells aud to enter
kumbi houses.
The third tribe. the NarliS. are con-
sidcrably better of. They are un-
shaven and slightly clothed and live in
small bamboo and bramblc hutS. They
are very innocent and harmless. but
immoderately fond OF liquor They
\ commit crimes of violence only when
they are drunk. aud they join in thefts
and gang robberies only when they are
starving. Among themsclvc they are
extremely fond of fun and very social.
With strangers they are timid at first.
but with Europeans whom they know
they are frank and very truthful
Nothing will induce them to leave the
forests. They are passionately fond OF
sport and will take their guns into
the forest and stay there for days to-
gethor. shooting sambhur. bhenkri.
peacocks and jungle aud spur fowls
over the forest pools and springs.
These types of savage life are TO be
found within an hour or even half an
hour Of Bombay.